by ERIN BEDFORD
Okay, now I was getting worried. I searched out Aidan’s face. “Why aren’t you doing this initiation thing too then?” Aidan and Ian were both studying the dark arts though I had a feeling Ian was a bit more into it than Aidan.
Aidan’s expression hardened. “The people in the group are not the kind of people I want to be associated with.”
“And Ian does?” I glanced from Aidan to Paul. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
The guys exchanged a look, but it was Callie who answered.
“They didn’t want to worry you, obviously.” She shook her head, her brown hair swaying around her. “Four guys and they’re still so overprotective of you. Man, I guess even some things can’t be fixed with magic.” She lounged on the couch with a ‘cat that ate the canary’ look.
Before I could ask more about the situation, the last people on earth I wanted to deal with came in to the shop.
“Oh, you’re here.” Sabrina grimaced, her eyes scanning over our group. Monica and Libby stood next to her, certainly not as put out as Sabrina looked to see us.
“Is that your dress?” Monica gushed, moving away from Sabrina and toward me, her eyes lighting up. “It’s so pretty.”
Libby followed Monica to my side, also cooing about the dress. For a moment, I forgot about Ian and his problems.
“Someone is missing from this group.” Sabrina smirked, taking us in. “I saw your mother outside, and Libby already told me Trina is at a birthday party for her family.” Libby smiled to herself at the mention of Trina. “So, who’s missing?”
Everyone was quiet. The tension in the room escalating. We all knew who was missing, and Sabrina bringing it up wasn’t going to make it any better.
“Oh, I know.” Libby raised her hand like she was in class. Sabrina pointed at her. “Ian’s missing.”
“Right.” Sabrina crossed her arms over her chest and stared at me, a smug grin on her lips. “Where is our resident bad boy?”
“He had school work,” I answered simply.
“Oh, you mean he’s being initiated?” Sabrina corrected me.
Scowling, I shot the guys a glare, silently yelling at them for me being the last to know. I gathered my skirts and moved for the changing room, no longer in the mood to try on dresses.
Fortunately, this dress wasn’t as hard to get out of. A zip and a flick and it pooled at my feet. I stripped out of the lingerie Madame Lace had insisted I wear underneath - to get the whole experience - and pulled on my regular clothes.
Marching out of the changing room, I almost ran into my mom.
“Oh, honey, there you are.” My mom had her phone up, tapping on the screen rapidly. “I just got off the phone with your grandmother. It seems the band we wanted isn’t going to be able to play at your party. We’ll have to find someone else.”
“Great.” I pushed past her, grabbed my purse, and headed for the door. “I’ll add it to the list.” But first, I had an initiation to break up.
Chapter 12
“I don’t need you to come with me,” I told Aidan and Paul for the fifth time since we climbed into my car. “I can handle this myself.”
Aidan grunted.
Paul placed his hand on top of mine. “He’s my brother. I don’t want him to be in this group either.”
“And he’s my boyfriend,” I snapped back, jerking the car into park. “I’m sure you and Aidan have already run his ear off about how he shouldn’t be in this secret society.” I made a face and did the finger quotes. “You of all people should know no one listens to their family’s advice until someone on the outside says it.”
Aidan snorted, his large form filling up the whole back seat of my borrowed car.
“I wish I could say you were wrong.” Paul sighed and rubbed his ear. “Look, my brother might have run to the dark arts as a way to get out from underneath our parents’ thumb, but he’s going to get himself hurt if he doesn’t start listening to someone. I hope for all our sakes that someone is you.”
I gave him a reassuring smile and patted his hand. “Me too. Now show me where this initiation thing takes place.”
We climbed out of the car and made our way across the quad. Being at the school during the summer was strange. Sure, like most colleges, there were summer classes, but the absence of people made the campus feel unlived in. Creepy, really.
“This way.” Aidan guided us away from the main hallways and toward a door labeled Dark Arts Department.
The door opened up to a set of stairs. The lighting in the stairway wasn’t flickering or dim like some horror movie, as I expected, but had a hospital quality to them, sterile and bright.
“Aidan?” I started, holding onto the cold metal railing as we moved down the stairs. “I thought you said the basement was dark and dank. This feels more like we’re going into a morgue or something else equally clinical.”
Aidan tilted his head back toward me. “This is only the classroom area. The initiation takes place deeper beneath ground.”
“Well,” I clucked my tongue, turning slightly to Paul, “that doesn’t sound fun at all.”
Paul chuckled and took my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I’m here.”
I squeezed back. “Thanks.”
Once out of the stairway, we walked into a large concrete room. There were tables lined up like in any other kind of classroom with a board and desk in the front. However, unlike the other classes, there were several sets of doors lined up on either side of the room. Each room had a different number on it.
“What’s up with the numbers?” I asked, moving away from them toward the number six door. Aidan grabbed my arm and pulled me back to his side. I stared at up at him in confusion.
“Don’t go off on your own.” The warning tone in his voice made my blood chill, and I nodded.
Paul kept close to us as Aidan brought us to a door at the front of the room. This one didn’t have a number on it, only an infinity symbol.
“What’s back there?” I whispered. “And why am I whispering?”
I had hoped Aidan would crack a smile at my joke, but his mouth was set in a hard line. It made my already frazzled nerves worse.
We stood there waiting for him to open the door, but then I realized there wasn’t a door knob, only a strange golden plate on it with a sharp pin sticking out. Without warning, Aidan pressed the pad of his thumb to the pin. Blood pooled to the surface, and a click sounded somewhere. The door unlatched, opening on its own.
“Come.” Aidan pushed the door further, so we could follow behind him.
I grabbed hold of the back of his t-shirt. All my wisecracks and jokes were swallowed as we stepped into a dark hallway. This was more like a Dark Arts department should look. Dim sconce lights decorated the bumpy walls. They might have been made of stone or dirt, I wouldn’t have known. I wasn’t taking the chance to figure it out. The magic in the air already set my hairs on end.
“Not much further,” Aidan reassured me. I glanced back to check on Paul and found him with his eyes dead ahead, and they didn’t dip once to look at me.
Guess I wasn’t the only one freaking out.
We could hear the chanting before we even got to the doorway ahead. And when I say doorway, it was more like an archway cut out of the wall. The archway led into a circular room where a dozen hooded figures stood in a circle. The floor had a white pentagram painted on it, and in the center sat an altar. A silver chalice sat on the altar next to a couple of candles and a book.
Aidan didn’t announce us to the room as he led us to stand off to the side, watching as a person stepped into the middle of the circle. They pushed back their hood, revealing the pale face beneath. A young woman a bit older than me stepped up to the altar. She picked up a knife I hadn’t seen on the altar and cut her palm. Holding her hand over the chalice, she let the blood drip from her hand and into the cup. Next, she dipped her fingers into the wound and then made a squiggle in the book.
Holy crap. Aidan wasn’t lying about this group being bad news
. I’d only read about the dark arts, and so far, everything I’d read said that anything that used live blood or flesh was just asking for trouble. This had ‘bad’ written all over it.
When Ian stepped into the circle next, I couldn’t stand by and say nothing. Okay, so I’m not proud of the next words that came out of my mouth. I sounded like my mother, but at least it got the job done.
“Ian Broomstein, what in the ever-loving hell do you think you are doing?” I screeched, my hands on my hips and a snarl on my face.
Ian froze.
The chanting stopped. In slow motion, every member of the circle turned toward us. The force of their eyes made me want to step back, but I forced myself to stand my ground. Hands on my hips, eyes narrowed, I locked my gaze with Ian who had sat the knife back on the altar.
He wasn’t as horrified or embarrassed as I expected him to be. I knew if my mother had shown up and done something like this in front of all my friends, I’d been freaking out. Ian had balls of steel because he simply stepped over to one of the cloaked figures and then out of the circle, coming toward us.
Someone clapped on the lights, and the group dispersed to the side where there was a table I hadn’t seen before filled with drinks and cookies. I guess devil worshipers had to eat too.
“What are you doing here?” Ian asked, confusion covering his face.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I poked my tongue in my cheek as I looked him up and down. “So, this is where you have been lately? Blowing people off and not returning messages? For this...” I gestured at the group of people acting as if they weren’t just in the middle of some evil shit. “... whatever the hell you want to call this.”
Ian ignored me and glared at Paul and Aidan. “You shouldn’t have brought her here.” Then his hazel eyes landed on me. “You shouldn’t have come here.”
“I can see that.” I tapped my foot. “Wouldn’t want your girlfriend getting in the way as you sell your soul for what?” I gestured wildly at the tables. “Some stale coffee and off-brand cookies, Ian? Really? What the fuck.”
Ian ran a hand through his hair. “You don’t understand what’s going on here. Aidan, I told you I had this under control.”
“You don’t.” Aidan had that look in his eyes like he knew something we didn’t, and I could only assume he’d had one of his visions.
Sighing, Ian shook his head. “I don’t care what you saw. It’s not like that, I swear. They’re not bad.”
“What’s with the blood then?” Paul interjected. “Blood has living, breathing magic in it, Ian. You know how dangerous that kind of stuff can be, and you’re just going to give them yours? Just like that?”
“No, not just like that,” Ian snapped at his brother. That fun-loving bad boy I was used to seeing suddenly had a sharp edge to him. “I’ve been preparing for this all year. Do you really think I’d agree to something like this without thinking it through?”
Paul stepped between us, so he was right in Ian’s face. “I think you’re so scared of our parents controlling your life that you’ll sign your name off to the first person who would give you an out. That’s all this is.” He gestured around the room and then shoved a finger into Ian’s chest. “Admit it. You’re running.”
“I’m not running,” Ian growled, shoving Paul back from him. “I’m making a name for myself which is more than I can say for you. You might be happy to follow in our parents’ footsteps, but I’m not.”
I shoved myself between Ian and Paul before they could start swinging at each other. Placing one hand on each of their chests, I gave them a little push. “Alright, let’s all take a breath. Paul and Aidan, why don’t you let me take it from here?”
“But Max—”
I cut Paul off. “But nothing. You two interrupted my happy dress fitting day with this, and now you need to let me deal with it.” I gave Paul a little shove. “Go, wait for me upstairs.”
Aidan’s gaze met mine for a moment. He nodded in understanding before leaving the way we came with a disgruntle Paul on his heels.
With the brother and best friend gone, I was on my own. Turning back to Ian, I sighed. “So...?” I clucked my tongue and rocked on my heels.
“You don’t need to worry,” Ian insisted, placing his hands on my shoulders.
“Oh? I don’t?” I quirked a brow. “So, you’re not about to sign your soul or whatever in that book in a very devil worshiping looking ritual?” I wiggled my fingers at the altar behind him.
Ian chuckled, shaking his head. “No. It’s not like that at all. The blood is a binding oath to uphold their values and not to misuse the powers given by the collective fold.”
I frowned. “Collective fold? That sounds very...cultish.”
Ian drew me closer to him, his arms wrapping around my back. My hands went to the sleeves of his robe which was a lot softer than it looked. “Look, you have to trust me on this. I know what I’m doing. It’s not as dangerous as my brother and Aidan are making it out to be.”
I chewed on my bottom lip as he pressed his forehead to mine. “Look, I know I have no right to say anything.”
“You have every right,” Ian interrupted, pressing his lips to my head, melting my resolve a bit.
“I mean, we’ve only been dating a short while, and I am still new to the whole magic thing, so I can’t even begin to understand everything that’s going on here.” I let him go enough to wave a hand at the room of people pretending to give us privacy. “However,” my blues eyes met his hazel ones, “I don’t want to see you get hurt. Can you promise me that?”
“Not to get hurt?” Ian smirked. “That might be a bit hard. Accidents do happen.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean.”
Ian kissed my nose. “Yes, I do. And thank you for worrying about me. I’m happy to know you care.” He cupped my face and brushed his lips against mine.
I sighed into his kiss, letting him ease my worries. When we parted, Ian took my hand and led me toward the circle. “Hold on a moment, what are you—”
He grinned and winked. “Everyone, this is Max. My girlfriend.”
The hooded people around us nodded and murmured their greetings. The young woman from before even came up to me and started to chat about my coming out party. While I wasn’t completely put at ease about the group, I realized most of them were just like Ian, regular old students looking for a different way in life which I could respect.
However, it didn’t explain the vision that Aidan had. Something told me it wouldn’t be something that could be solved by cookies.
Chapter 13
Laying on my bed, I stared up at the ceiling of my room. There were only a few days left until my coming out party, and everything was going according to plan.
Well. Kind of.
Trina: Did you figure out the music yet?
Me: iPod?
I waited for the inevitable ping of my phone and the snarky explanation of why I couldn’t just do it the human way.
Before Trina could get her message out, my phone rang. Mom. Sitting up, I answered the phone.
“Hey, mom. What’s up?” I hadn’t seen my mom much since I moved in with grandmother for the summer. It was understandable since they didn’t really get along, but I still missed my mom.
“Max, I’m so happy to have caught you.” My mom seemed a bit out of breath, making me frown.
“Are you running? You sound weird.”
Silence on the other line raised my suspicions. Then my mom came back on the phone, her voice now normal. “No, just playing a game with your dad. Uh. Twister. It’s a hard game.”
My brows furrowed as I tried to imagine my parents playing that game. “Why would Twister make you...?” My eyes widened, and my mouth dropped open. “Oh my god. Mom. You called me after you were having sex? Ew.”
“No, don’t be ridiculous.” My mom let out a nervous chuckle. “We were playing Twister.”
I snorted. “You’re a horrible liar.”
“We
ll, I lied to you about being a witch for eighteen years, I can’t be that bad,” she retorted.
Oh, yeah. There was that. Still, no one wanted to talk to their parents about their sex lives. Just. Ew. A shudder went through me as my phone vibrated under my hand. Trina finally texted me back.
“Changing the subject,” I said gleefully, “what were you calling about?”
“Can’t I just want to talk to my daughter?” my mom asked, her voice going up in pitch.
“Not when you just did it with my dad which, by the way, ew again.” I made a face and climbed off the bed. “I hope you have something important to say that’s worth traumatizing me.”
My mom made a sound of disbelief. “If you’re traumatized by this, how do you think your dad and I feel about knowing you’re having orgies with four guys?”
My mouth fell open. “I... I’m not having orgies.” I went to my bathroom and grabbed my brush, running it rapidly through my hair. “Where would you even get an idea like that? And it’s totally not the same thing.”
“It’s worse actually. Thinking about my precious little girl getting pounded by all that wizard dick.”
“Oh my god, mom!” I threw the brush down and slapped a hand on my cheek. “Are you drunk or cursed? Do not say little girl and dick in the same sentence. Ever!” Mom laughed hysterically on the other line while I tried my damndest not to vomit. “You know what, yak it up. But I’m hanging up the phone now.”
“Hold on, hold on.” My mom hurried to stop me through her laughter. “I did call for a reason.”
“Then get to it and stop racking up the therapy bill I’m sure to have in the near future.”
Clearing her throat, my mom seemed to get a hold of herself. Finally. “Since your coming out party is on your birthday, we thought it might be nice to do something with just the three of us together before. Maybe dinner? Tonight?”
I thought about it for a moment. My birthday was getting derailed by this party, and a nice, quiet family dinner would be a good change of pace from the weird, tension-filled ones with my grandparents.
